Once our leftovers were tucked away in the fridge - Bucky insisted on doing the heavy lifting on that one - we were back in the living room with the music still a steady hum around us. He pulled me back into his arms and we got back to him showing me just how much he loved dancing. Seeing Bucky look so at peace, his eyes twinkling in the candlelight, made ALL of the effort worth it.
"Do you feel welcome, Sergeant Barnes?" I asked, tilting my head back so I could stare up at him.
His smile made my knees a little weaker and I wondered if all those years ago the wives and ladies waiting for their soldiers had felt like this when they had their men back and in their arms? "Starting to, Miss Ashley, starting to." He dipped me low, causing a reaction in my stomach very similar to what I'd felt every time I'd gone on a roller coaster. "Are we gonna dance all night?"
"If you want to," I murmured as he straightened us, biting my lip. I hoped like hell that he wasn't planning on just dancing all night.
"Did you have other plans?" Playful and teasing, this was how I loved him most.
"Maybe," coy, wasn't that how the women of his time had played it? Letting my head fall to one side, I stared up at him and thought about how he'd looked in the exhibit at the Smithsonian. In his full uniform, his hat tilted at a jaunty angle, slightly arrogant, but not in an off-putting way. How would I have welcomed THAT Sergeant Barnes home? "Only if you'd prefer to NOT dance the night away."
He bit his own lip and stared down at me as if he were considering the options. "I DO love to dance." I watched as he swallowed, still so quiet, my Bucky. "But I like your surprises too, Brooke."
Smiling, I pulled away only far enough to grab my phone and take his hand in mine. "Then come along, Bucky -"
I'd put candles in the bathroom while I was waiting for Bucky to finish up with Raynor and his packing. Once I pulled him up the stairs, I pushed him into OUR bedroom and asked him if he wanted to grab anything from downstairs before we turned in for the evening - a slight oversight on my part, but honestly, I was nervous and excited. He studied me, with my cell phone in my hand still playing the music from his past, and thought about what I was asking.
"Yeah, I should probably grab a few things -" but before he left me alone, he stole a kiss, a placeholder for what was coming next. "I'm guessing you need a few minutes to yourself?"
"Just a couple," I murmured, staring up at him. "Wait here when you get back?" He smiled and then went back downstairs, where I knew he'd not only grab what he wanted to bring up, but also check to be sure that we were locked up nice and tight - since he was more security conscious than I'd ever hope to be.
Since I knew he'd give me more than enough time to do what I wanted to do, I lit the candles in the bathroom, then I started the water - adding some lightly scented oil and just a touch of bubbles. When I first planned his welcome home party, I thought long and hard about what I imagined a man who had been through the unimaginable might want when he finally got back into the safety and warmth of hearth and home - and I thought the comfort of a meal that reminded him of a better time (like our first meal together), something he loved to do before that wasn't TOO strenuous (the dancing), and this - a nice relaxing bath to wash away the dirt, the strife, and the struggle - even if it wasn't literal.
"Brooke?" His voice was soft and far enough away that I knew he was in our room, just like I asked him to wait. I considered taking the dress off on my own, but somehow I felt that Bucky had the right to unwrap his gift himself.
Opening the bathroom door, I called to him, asking him to come to me. When he crossed into the room, I watched as he took in the scene I'd created. The warm bath, the candles, and me waiting for him.
"Ready to unwrap your present?" Bucky's grin grew as his hands reached for me, and I almost feared for the dress, but I shouldn't have - not with how dexterous his fingers were and not with how determined he was to see what was waiting underneath.
Black lace, covering the upper and lower curve of my breast had Bucky inhaling so deeply that I FINALLY heard him. The lace teased at my ribcage, much like his fingers had the first time we kissed, well the third - when he pinned me to the wall of my kitchen. The matching panties were framed by the garter belt, also black lace and I watched as his steel colored eyes grew so dark that they almost matched the color of my dress and underwear. Ruler straight lined nylons with lace edges clipped into the garter belt completed the layer closest to my bare skin.
"If I had you waiting for me in 1945," his breath was so hot against my shoulder that I thought I might end up with burns, "I swear I would have figured out a way back."
A very hot bath later, and we were in OUR bed ready to finally doze off when he sighed contently into my hair. I smiled, thinking that if I'd made him marginally happy, then the evening had been a success, but what he said had me thinking that maybe I'd done so much more.
"We're actually going to sleep in the bed?" I raised up, shocked that I'd forgotten and was about to pull away and start yanking the blankets off so we could move to the floor when he stopped me. "No, Brooke, don't -" I looked down, our eyes meeting and his hand came up to cradle my cheek. "That wasn't - I'm fine with it. Really. Come here," he tucked me back into his body, kissing my temple. "I feel amazing, Brooke, with you, here, in this BED." I smiled, my face pressed into his chest. "I love you."
"I love you," and I did. So with the television flickering it's bluish light over us, I waited for sleep to pull me under so I could see the familiar flashs, then the feelings of horror and pain, because once I got through that - I could wake up in Bucky's arms, and have another day with him.